Briton says "best job in world" no holiday

(WORLD, TOURISM, AUSTRALIAN, SOUTHALL, CAMPAIGN, QUEENSLAND)

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - It may sound like a paid holiday, but the winner of "best job in the world" said he intends to work hard promoting tourism to an Australian state as he set off for his first day in the office: a tropical island.
Briton Ben Southall flew out on Wednesday to Hamilton Island, in the Great Barrier Reef, to start his six-month caretaker duties, for which he will be paid A$150,000 ($121,000).
Southall, 34, was picked from 16 finalists in a highly publicised contest that was part of an innovative marketing campaign by Tourism Queensland which attracted almost 35,000 video entries from some 200 countries.
"Everyone`s promoting this as the ultimate six month`s hammock time," Southall told Australian media.
"To me and to the rest of Tourism Queensland we know that it`s a job. We know it`s a real position and there is a lot of hard work to come. I`ve got to be an ambassador for Queensland, selling it to the world."
Southall`s duties include exploring the islands of the Great Barrier Reef and reporting back to Tourism Queensland and the world via blogs, a photo diary, video updates and interviews.
If he wants, he can also clean the pool and feed the fish.
Southall, accompanied by his girlfriend, said he was looking forward to living on a "nice piece of paradise," but added he would miss his mother`s cooking.
"I probably will miss my mum`s Sunday roasts, but I`m going to be learning new foods on the barbecue, I suppose," he said.
The "Best Job in the World" campaign began in January, and within days was one of the most popular items on the Internet, highlighting the marketing potential of social networking sites such as YouTube and Facebook.
Tourism Queensland hailed the advertising campaign as an enormous success, calculating the $1.7 million spent had reaped almost $200 million in global publicity.
The campaign also set a record at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in June when it took out an unprecedented three Grand Prix awards in recognition of the global media exposure it generated.
($1=1.240 Australian dollar)
(Writing by Miral Fahmy; Editing by Jerry Norton)
Original article

Wining and dining still popular in downturn

(MASTERCARD, PERCENT, PEOPLE, PACIFIC, AFRICA, SPENDING)

By Miral Fahmy
SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - The economic downturn appears to go down better with a meal and a glass of wine, with a survey showing consumers outside Europe and the United States do not intend to cut back on dining out and having fun.
The poll, conducted by MasterCard and released on Wednesday, said nearly 70 percent of people surveyed in 21 countries in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa see dining and entertainment to be their top spending priority in the next six months.
Fashion and accessories, fitness and wellness, children`s extra-curricular education and electronic goods rounded up the top-five non-essential, or discretionary, purchasing priorities for the majority of more than 9,200 people surveyed.
"Socializing is important in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and it`s a relatively small expenditure that`s affordable in this global recession," Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, MasterCard`s Asia-Pacific economic adviser, told reporters.
"Having dinner and drinks is not buying a car."
According to the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing Priorities, just over half the consumers said they would continue to spend on non-essential items over the next six months.
But nearly two-thirds said they would cut back on buying extras, with an overall 72 percent planning to increase their precautionary savings, or money set aside for lean times.
China, whose economy has not been as badly hit by the downturn as other nations, had the highest number of people still willing to spend at the same levels, followed by the oil-rich Gulf Arab countries of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Overall, a minority -- or under 10 percent in Asia Pacific and less than 12 percent in the Middle East and Africa -- were splurging more during these tough times.
"People are still spending on small and big-ticket items, but they`re spending less, and are attracted by bargains," Hedrick-Wong said. "Belt-tightening is the order of the day."
The survey was conducted in March and April in Australia, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, South Africa, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
Original article

Life in North Korea: lies, potatoes and cable TV

(NORTH, THEIR, PEOPLE, STATE, REFUGEES, GENERAL)

By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Koreans who recently arrived in the South live in a world of contradictions where their upbringing instills them with reverence for Kim Jong-il but their daily struggle leads them to believe he is a brutal despot.
By all accounts, they say North Korea is gradually spiralling out of control, its economy dysfunctional while people are suspicious of one another because of a network of informants.
They also speak of a sense of normalcy in the North. Most left for the chance of a better life in the South but they are uncertain if they can find their way in the competitive capitalist state.
The following is a snapshot of life in North Korea, compiled from accounts given by refugees who recently arrived in the South. Their identities are not disclosed because they fear persecution for family and relatives back home.
"SAD TO SEE THE DEAR GENERAL SO FEEBLE"
It is a political crime to talk about the family of leader Kim Jong-il but many recently arrived refugees said the average North Korean is probably aware of foreign media reports that Kim`s youngest son Jong-un may likely take over. Most North Koreans have no idea that Kim, 67 and thought to have suffered a stroke a year ago, has three sons.
"In Pyongyang, you take it for granted that leadership will be inherited," one refugee Park said, adding she knew Kim Jong-il had two daughters and a son and his name was Jong-nam. That is the portly and oldest of Kim`s three known sons, believed to have fallen from his father`s favor years ago after being arrested for trying to enter Japan on a forged passport.
"I don`t want to say Kim Jong-il is bad," another refugee Choi said. "It`s the people who report to him who are not doing their job right. They make false reports." Choi said she knew from experience that crop production is something that gets most often falsified "so as not to make the General worry."
Most refugees still call Kim Jong-il the "General" as has been taught to them by state propaganda and have bought into, at least partially, his carefully crafted cult of personality.
Park said she knows Kim often stays up at night worried about the lives of the people. "It is true that he has sacrificed so much for the people," she said. "The general has aged a lot," she said of her impression of seeing recent pictures of Kim looking frail and perhaps debilitated by the stroke.
"SOLDIERS FOR FIGHTING? NOT HERE"
North Korea is the world`s most militarized state compared to its population with a standing army of more than 1.1 million. Service is mandatory and can be as long as 10 years. The might of the army is "invincible," according to state media but the refugees are rather cynical about the ill equipped force.
"When I look at them, the army that I`ve seen will be busy running away from a war," another refugee Kim said. "Maybe they have the real army for war kept away at some other place."
Low morale and corruption in the military are so widespread that it is the norm rather than the exception for soldiers to be extorting bribes from merchants crossing the Chinese border.
"We say something is wrong with you if you did not save enough in 10 years of service at the border to go home, get married and start a family," Kim said.  Continued...
Original article

Book Talk: Author Adichie doesn`t mind her own business

(ADICHIE, NOVEL, FICTION, STORIES, ABOUT, STORY)

By Pauline Askin
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Award-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a professional eavesdropper: she admits a lot of what she writes is based on what she`s overheard.
Adichie, whose second novel "Half of a Yellow Sun" won her the Orange Prize for fiction in 2007, says that while most of her characters are inspired by the stories her family tell, she`s also heard some incredible tales at cafes in the United States or while shopping at markets back home.
She recently released a collection of short stories, "The Thing Around Your Neck," that tell even more tales -- deceptively simple stories set in Nigeria and abroad that explore complex themes such as loneliness, cultural alienation and relationships.
Born in Nigeria in 1977, Adichie grew up in the university town of Nsukka. She moved to the United States to attend college, graduating with a major in communication and also holds masters degrees in creative writing and African studies.
Adichie`s first novel, 2003`s "Purple Hibiscus," earned her rave reviews, the Best First Book award in the Commonwealth Writers` Prize and comparisons with renowned Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, author of the widely read "Things Fall Apart."
Adichie, who was in Sydney recently to attend a writers` festival, spoke to Reuters about the art of telling stories:
Q: You are praised for your story-telling abilities. How different is a story-teller from an author?
A: "I don`t know really. I think of myself as a story teller. I think there are writers that are less interested in stories in the conventional sense and more interested in using words to create atmosphere or mood."
Q: So what inspired the stories in your book?
A: "I love eavesdropping! For me fiction is using stories I have heard or read or seen, so I`m very much an eavesdropper. I never mind my business and I ask people personal questions and I use it in my fiction, but I make changes to it. So a lot of my fiction starts from that, from real stories. Not necessarily about myself, I don`t like writing about myself."
Q: What do you find attractive about the short story format compared to the novels you`ve written?
A: "I like both forms really. Sometimes there`s a sense when people talk about short stories as somehow they are the less accomplished sibling of the novel. I think both are complete forms and both difficult to write."
Q: What does the title of your book signify?
A: "`The Thing Around Your Neck` is the title of one of the stories in the book. It`s about immigration, about the alienation one feels when one leaves home and goes to a different place. In some ways most of the stories are about that, so it seemed right to make sense to call it that."
Q: What other themes run through your book?  Continued...
Original article

Cheap is the new cool but will America stay thrifty?

(YEAGER, THEIR, CONSUMER, SPENDING, SAVING, MONEY)

By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When Jeff Yeager`s book "The Ultimate Cheapskate" came out 18 months ago, he felt like a voice crying in the wilderness telling people to ditch their cell phones, hoard their pennies and pay off the mortgage.
Now the Internet abounds with self-proclaimed penny-pinchers offering tips on living frugally as the recession bites into America`s shop-`til-you-drop lifestyle.
The rise of thrift may be bad news for a U.S. economy where in 2006 consumer spending accounted for 70 percent of gross domestic product.
"Cheap is the new cool," said Yeager, who also has a blog called "The Ultimate Cheapskate" offering advice on enjoying life more by spending less. An Internet search for "cheapskate" finds a string of similar blogs.
"When the book came out, it and I were viewed as quaint little novelties, but now it`s being taken much more seriously," Yeager said.
When he advised people to focus on paying off their mortgage as soon as possible and stay in their first home forever, Yeager said his publisher warned him to tone down his "radical" ideas.
Now the subprime mortgage crisis has shown the fallacy of acting as if house prices always go up and people are saving like rarely before. Official data last week showed that U.S. savings jumped to a record annual rate of $768.8 billion, the highest level since records began in 1959, and the saving rate climbed to a 15-year high of 6.9 percent of income.
Yeager said it was discouraging that hopes of an economic recovery are pinned on consumer spending rather than manufacturing and production.
"Some of the lessons we should be taking away from this -- like we can`t live on borrowed money, we can`t live beyond our means -- part of the solution being put forward for getting out of this mess goes back to that," Yeager said.
It is a paradox that Lauren Weber, a journalist and author of the forthcoming book "In Cheap We Trust," a history of thrift in America, said is part of the national character.
Thrift, hard work and simple living were deeply embedded in America`s early values, embraced by the Puritans and founding father Benjamin Franklin whose aphorism "a penny saved is a penny earned" is often invoked today.
"We`re very confused," Weber said. "We`re told that saving money is good for the soul, it`s virtuous to save money. On the other hand, we`re told it`s basically unpatriotic, it`s like burning the flag, to cut up your credit cards."
Credit card debt soared 25 percent in the past decade as consumers were flooded with offers of easy money, pushing spending up at rates that far exceeded wage growth.
In the last decade, American households piled on $8 trillion in debt, an increase of 137 percent, taking total consumer debt to around $14 trillion by late 2008, including home mortgages, credit and store cards and auto loans.
With the collapse of home prices and stock investments, consumers are changing their ways, at least for now.  Continued...
Original article

New book spotlights black America in Obama era

(BLACK, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN, THEIR, SUCCESS, SIEGEL)

By Matthew Bigg
ATLANTA (Reuters Life!) - A new book attempts to dig beneath the euphoria that swept black America when Barack Obama became president to ask the question: what, if anything, actually changed?
"Family Affair: What it Means to be African American Today" is a collection of short, autobiographical essays in which 76 black professionals detail how their families played a role in their success, either as springboards, or barriers to be overcome.
It`s one of a slew of books published since the November election in which authors examine the changes in U.S. society that allowed Obama, the first African American president, to run successfully.
In essay after essay in "Family Affair", the short answer to the `what changed?` question comes through: everything and nothing.
Many of the contributors argue that Obama`s election -- and their own success -- reflect changes brought about by the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
A number credit self-belief in their success, while some also cite their reliance on the classic American virtues of hard work and self-reliance.
"The idea was to provide a platform for African Americans to discuss their issues on their own terms. The black community is often at times framed through someone else`s lens," said editor Gil Robertson.
"It was high time that we take control of how that identity is and how it is seen," he said in an interview.
"MORE OPEN CLIMATE" TO DISCUSS RACE
The book`s contributors include actors, singers, models and business leaders, but surrounding them is the sense that they have emerged from a community that struggles.
Black Americans, who represent around 13 percent of the U.S. population, lag national averages in terms of income, life expectancy, infant mortality, education and health.
Max Siegel, who grew up in an abusive and unstable household and is now an influential sports executive, attributes his success to high self-esteem promoted by some of those who brought him up, despite the challenges.
"They constantly reassured us that we were special and good and that we should be comfortable with that," said Siegel, who is now president of global operations at Dale Earnhardt, the top motor sports franchise in the NASCAR (North American Stock Car Auto Racing).
Siegel argued that the increasing openness to dialogue about misunderstandings between racial groups was one benefit of last year`s election that would have a lasting impact.
"As a society, even though we have a long way to go, the climate is such that we can talk about some of these issues more openly," he said in an interview.  Continued...
Original article